Of Pokémon and Butterflies
by tastingstarsinchampagne
Summary: Danny Abbot and Wes Hughes friendship drabblette. CP Coulter's Dalton!verse. Contains mentions of self harm. Possible triggers?


**_Danny/Wes friendship drabble-esque thing. For weasleyinslytherin on Tumblr, because I know she loves Danny and wanted to see more Danny fics :) I don't own anything. all characters belong to CP Coulter._**

"Hey, Danny," Wes calls from across the almost empty science lab. "Do you have any lessons for the rest of the day?"

The Hanover shakes his head. "No, I've got a free period and then 'study breaks' that I won't study in. Why?" He walks over to the Windsor and they begin to leave the room together.

Wes grins. "Well, then we're going to play Pokémon in Switzerland. We need to catch up, dude!" Danny laughs as they walk towards Windsor so that Wes can pick up his Nintendo (if they're going to play, they're going to play like they're ten years old again). "It's been ages since we've hung out together, man. Much too long," the Windsor says as they climb the stairs.

"I know; it's just with finals, and Hell Night and everything…" Danny trails off, gesturing with his hands as though this completes his sentence. A slightly awkward silence follows. Determined to start conversation again, Danny presses on. "Hey, how's David lately?" He asks, trying to encourage his ex-roommate.

"Oh, he's… alright. He's been really quiet lately and with my parents coming to Hell Night and everything with Katherine… It's just really weird. I can tell he still blames himself, but there's nothing I can do. And he's got some huge secret he's hiding; going to weird places all the time, staying out late, avoiding me… It's… I just… I can't talk to him like I can talk you, Dan," he says quietly as the sandy haired boy opens the door to Hanover House.

"Justin, Wes is here! We're going to play Pokémon in my room, is that alright?" Danny shouts to the prefect.

"How old are you two?" Justin sticks his head around the door, but he's smiling. "Yeah, that's fine," he nods and disappears again. Wes can hear Charlie's deep laugh from behind the door, and he considers going to bother the prefect, but then Danny has grabbed his wrist and is pulling him up the marble staircase to his dorm room.

"Wes, you should probably explain that stuff about your family to David," he says as he collapses onto his bed, sitting cross-legged and facing the oriental boy, who's slumped on a beanbag in the corner. "He's your best friend; he's sort of got a right to know…"

"But he doesn't tell me anything! If he's allowed secrets, so am I!" Wes protests, flailing his hands about wildly.

Danny can't help but chuckle. "You two are like an old married couple. He's not cheating on you, Wes! He's just being private with his girlfriend! I'm sure you don't want to know every single detail of their lives behind doors…" He grins wickedly and Wes cringes.

"Dude! That's an image I don't want in my mind!" They laugh together and it's like old times of sharing a room together, with late night sugar highs and discussions about girls and stuff like that. Danny misses those days.

"Hey, are you ready for a battle, then?" Wes brandishes his Nintendo at Danny, who takes out his like it's a dangerous weapon.

"Bring it, dude," he raises his eyebrow.

After an hour, Wes has beaten the Hanover four times and they're laughing and laughing. "I give up," Danny throws his hand up in the air and flops back onto his bed. "Grass types will always beat water type Pokémon."

"This is why you should always have some variety in your Pokédex!" The Windsor grins, but hesitates before he speaks again, not wanting to make things awkward between them. "Hey, Dan?" He chucks a pillow from the floor to his friend, who throws it back with surprising accuracy.

"Mhm?" They throw the pillow like a basketball between the two of them.

He took a breath. "You haven't… you know…"

"No," Danny replies quietly. He stops throwing the pillow instantly. "No, I haven't. I promised I wouldn't." He quickly looks down, and can't help but feel his friend's eyes burning into his wrists. He's telling the truth. But it's bringing back memories he'd rather forget, and it's clear that Wes doesn't believe him anyway. He'd felt like cutting, a while ago, and he scrubbed the felt-tip pen 'COURAGE' marks off of his wrist with a little more force than needed, but he didn't cut. No, he held back because he didn't want to let everyone down. That, and Wes had made him throw away his razors. Danny only had one left, but he wasn't going to use it. No. He wasn't going to let Hanover down. "Seriously, Wes. I haven't," he tried to convince his friend, but as he quickly glances up, he can see the concern and slight doubt in Wes' eyes. Inhaling quickly, he pulls up his long sleeve, revealing the fading scars littering his left arm. There are no new ones, just as he promised. Courage has been written in purple Sharpie over some, and, to Wes' surprise, there are four, ornately drawn butterflies near his wrist, and Wes can see that they're labelled 'Spencer', 'Merril', 'Justin' & 'Wes'. The Windsor doesn't question the drawings, but Danny blushes crimson anyway. He wasn't supposed to see the butterflies. Crap. Wes probably thinks he's a right freak now. Especially since his name's under one of them. He probably thinks-

"Okay. Sorry for interrogating you, man. But dude," the oriental boy stands to sit next to Danny on his bed. "We might not be in the same house any more or anything, but I'm still here for you. I'm here if you want to talk or anything. We're still friends, yeah?"

"Yeah. I know. Same to you," Danny looks up and smiles weakly at Wes. Silence. What are you supposed to say after such an awkward conversation? Oh yeah, thanks, mate. Just so you know, I drew you as a butterfly so that I didn't cut myself. That alright with you? Because that would go down well. Not.

"So, dude, you got a girlfriend yet?" The Windsor's grinning at him, bringing the Hanover back to Earth.

"Ha. Yeah right. I heard what went down with you and Tabitha, though. She's with Seigerson now, right?"

"Yep. But there's this other girl…" And just like that, the two are talking like normal again. Discussing girls, gaming and their lack of any female interaction whatsoever. It makes Danny feel so much less alone. And he can see that everything will be alright from now on. So long as he focusses on the future ahead, and not on the scars of his past.


End file.
